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Bologna 1477, printed decks
1. Roberto Blanchelli da Rimini stipulò nel 1477 un contratto con il maestro Pietro Bonozzi. Bonozzi era il fabbricante e fornitore ufficiale di carte da gioco del governo bolognese. Il figlio di Bonozzi s'impegnava a fabbricare per diciotto mesi in esclusiva per Blanchelli carte e trionfi su carta fornita dal committente. Quote from Tarocchino Bolognese 2. The same is reported with more detail by Andrea Vitali: il Tarocchino da Bologna, Bologna 2005, p. 16 3. Gherardo Ortalli in "The Prince and the playing cards" at page 192/194 drags the following description of it: "Exploring the printers' role and their relations with painters more accurately the production process. The cards came off the presses with a white cover and were usually sold in that condition. The terms of a contract signed in 1477 at Bologna are revealing in this sense. The manufacturer duly pledged to make at least 250 packs in six months with a possible supplement of a further 125 packs. The large number just reveals just how lively the market was. But what interests us here is that only 50 of the 250 packs were to have decorated backs (chequered or with coats of arms when required), hereas the other 200 were to be supplied without any decoration whatsoever - all white on black." Commentary autorbis: In the contrary to Ortalli I can't judge, that 250 decks in 6 monthes signify a lively market. All comments seem to refer to Orioli in 1908 : Emilio Orioli, 'Sulle carte da giuoco a Bologna nel secolo XV', Il Libro e la Stampa, anno II (n.s.), 1908, pp. 109-19; see p. 112. Orioli-TextNote Ross Caldwell: The article by Emilio Orioli "Sulle carte da giuoco a Bologna nel secolo XV" is from the Italian journal "Il libro e la stampa" n.s. 2, fasc. 4-5 (1908) pp. 109-119. It is online at the website of the "Emeroteca Digitale"Website of the "Emeroteca Digitale" Orioli's discussion of the 1477 Bonozzi text is on pp. 113-114, and the original document is on pp. 117-119. The document only states that 250 packs of both normal and triumph cards are to be made; it does not state how many of each, so we have no means of knowing how many triumph packs Bonozzi was contracted to make. The person hiring Bonozzi was Roberto Blanchelli of Rimini, who was living in Bologna. He hired Bonozzi and his son for a period of 18 months (not six) almost exclusively. So Bonozzi and son made cards only for him. If one were to guess that Blanchelli was a merchant who sold the cards for profit elsewhere, then it seems Bologna was already a major exporter of cheap cards in the 1470s.
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